Oregon QB Marcus Mariota threw for 207 yards and ran for a TD in last year's 17-14 loss to Stanford.

John W. McDonough/SI

One particularly inspired element of that project is the collection of stakes driven into a belt of soil girdling the northwest corner of the stadium -- one stake for every game played at Autzen. Each stake is painted in the color of the winning team. For a century or so, it's a rainbow. As one arrives at the 2000s, the field of stakes becomes solidly yellow, even more so in the portion representing the Kelly era. Over the past two seasons there's only one lonely non-yellow stake. That one is Cardinal red.

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